Emotional and external eating styles associated with obesity

Emotional, external and rigid restrained eating are three eating habits related to obesity. They are associated to overeating in response to negative emotions, external food-related cues, and body weight control. Obesity treatment necessarily requires the training of medical professionals. The objective of this research is to assess eating styles of people living with obesity and to analyse differences comparing with people with normal body mass index (BMI). We examined the relationship between eating habits and BMI. A total of 200 participants aged from 31 to 62 years old were recruited from hospital and university workers; 110 with obesity and 90 with normal BMI. The Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire was used to assess eating styles (DEBQ). The outcomes of the current study showed that people with obesity exhibit a high emotional and external eating. However, they show a slight restraint eating. BMI was associated to both emotional and external eating. Negatives emotions lead participants to overeat as a response way to cope with, and expose them to obesity. These results are important for the initial screening of obesity criteria. For prevention and treatment of obesity, eating styles must be targeted as factors associated to obesity in order to cope with negative emotions.